Change
by wouldtheywriteasongforyou
Summary: "I swear I'll do anything to see a victory in our hands." - the story of the 1836 Texan Revolution featuring Texan rebel James Potter and his revolutionary girlfriend, Lily Evans. muggle!au. Taylor Swift song.


**Author's Note:  
Disclaimer: sort-of historically accurate but I haven't taken Texas History in five years, so no promises.  
**

Written for the QL competition (round three, puddles chaser two: "Don't take yourself too seriously. And don't be too serious about not taking yourself too seriously." - Howard Ogden ; "Choose it or lose it" ; "Do what you want." ; establishment of a democracy) ; Wand Wood Competition "Poplar" ; Divergent Competition Abnegation quote 2. "They died for me."

7 June 2014. Inspired by "Change" by Taylor Swift. Word Count: 2,098

**"This is a revolution - you have to want it."  
**

* * *

**Change**

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**i. October 2, 1835: The Loose Cannon.**

He is twenty the first time he dies.

You weren't there, but the story echoes within your bones and breathes life into your rebellion-starved veins. The story has been told so many times that the enemies' numbers keep getting bigger and bigger while the rebels become braver and more heroic with each re-telling. Fact blurs with fiction, and your head spins as you try to discern the exaggerations from the truth.

Sirius is telling the story tonight. He's always been a hyperbolic man with a flair for melodrama, and he never seems to take himself seriously. His pretentiousness makes you yawn but the urgency he speaks with has you intrigued. He leans in, his eyes shadowed in the smokey firelight. He cannot wait to capture and reel you in with his hook, line, and sinker.

This story, the one about Castañeda, a cannon, and a saucy battle cry of COME AND GET IT, is his favourite to tell. The Battle of Gonzales is recognised as the official start of the Texan revolution against Mexico. To you, however, it's not the start as much as it is an ending. Perhaps it's your cynicism that sours your opinions, but you're positive none of the Texans are going to make it out of this war alive. Your troops are outnumbered and untrained. You're not only fighting against your colonizers but the Native American tribes that border your cities. Fighting for independence and secession is the least of your problems when compared to the day-to-day obstacles of base camp raids and fatally contagious diseases that spread quicker than wildfires in the Texan prairies.

You're certain that this battle will be lost before it even begins.

General Albus Longbeard assesses all of you while Sirius continues to monopolise the conversation. He is the mastermind behind this entire rebellion against the Mexican president Gellerto, and although you are quite positive General Longbeard has a specific and personal grudge against Gellerto instead of a vendetta for all of Mexico, you are careful not to voice this assumption out loud. You are already breaking so many rules by being here at the meeting. The Order of the Phoenix was once a ragtag team of rebels, but the win at Gonzales - which Sirius is actively demonstrating yet again - has made the Texans more confident in their decision to rebel against the Mexican government. Tonight is a delayed celebration of the battle's victory, though it looks more like an excuse for cowboys to get piss-drunk.

"You shoulda seen 'im!" Sirius slurs out, gesturing with a sloshing tankard in the direction of the battle hero. "Jaime 'bout had them Mexicans shitting in their pants. An' he was yellin' _come and get it_ like his life depended on seein' 'em die tryin' to get their damned cannon back. Here's hopin' ya make a speedy recovery so you can hand them their ass on a silver platter again. To Jaime!"

"To Jaime!" everyone in the Order choruses back.

The injured youth sitting next to you smirks wryly at their toasts to his good health and passion on the battlefield. His left arm is bandaged up in a sling ("stray piece of cannonball shrapnel pierced him to the bone," Sirius loudly explains to anyone stupid enough to listen). He is proud - much too proud, really - of his wound.

"Means I'm still alive, you see," he tells you with his natural arrogance. His logic is twisted with the bloody glory of his victory. "I'm not dead like my opponent."

"You killed someone?" you ask, horrified by Jaime's confession.

He stares at you with eyes emptier than the graveyard of starlight shining overhead. "I had to, Evans," he says softly. "It was my life or theirs." Jaime looks unsure of himself after saying this as if he is letting himself feel guilty for taking a life. "I had to," he repeats, simultaneously sounding younger and older than his sixteen years.

It sounds like he is trying to reassure himself instead of convincing you about the necessity of his murder.

**ii. March 9, 1836: Remember The Alamo.**

"Jaime! Jaime, sir, you need to read this. It's a letter, sir. A letter from the Alamo," a sandy-haired, rat-faced boy interrupts as he dashes frantically into the makeshift camp.

Jaime breaks off mid-sentence and stares at the letter as if it is a stick of dynamite that is about to explode. "Sirius," he breathes and snatches the letter with red-hot hands. His eyes pore over the writing as he engrosses himself in what his best mate has to say from the fort in San Antonio.

You remember back in January, General Longbeard had asked for thirty volunteers to go tear down the old fort. Sirius and Jaime had been two of the first to be nominated. Sirius led the expedition a few days later; Jaime, however, opted to stay behind and work with the committee who were drafting the Texan Declaration of Independence. Everyone thought he declined to opportunity to go to San Antonio because he wanted a break from being in the midst of a war zone. Only you and Jaime know that he declined because both of you had confessed your love to each other seventeen hours earlier. You promised to become a package deal - where one went, the other followed. Your survival was tied to his and vice versa. If there was anything Jaime wanted from his war-torn world, it was for you to be safe and alive.

It wasn't that the Alamo was a dangerous mission; it was just simply too close to Mexican territory for Jaime's liking. Thus, it resulted in the two of you staying behind to deal with the legal and documentary part of the revolution - yes, people now called it a revolution because the rebellion is going to succeed, no question about it.

"Shit," Jaime swears, and you cringe as your mind conjures all sorts of terrible reasons why your significant other is cursing. "Bloody fucking hell!"

"Sir?" the messenger boy tentatively asks.

"Not now, Pedro!" Jaime snarls.

"But the reports need to be made and the plan of action needs to be announced not to mention the obituaries and promotions - "

"TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY MEN HAVE DIED AND YOU'RE CONCERNED ABOUT THE GODDAMN PROMOTIONS?" he bellows in response.

The boy pales. "Sir, I did not know - "

You subtly place yourself between Pedro and Jaime in case he literally decides to shoot the messenger. "Perhaps it would be best if you leave," you murmur to the boy. He nods, eyes wide with fright, before scampering off.

Jaime lets out a feral roar and stomps over to a nearby tree. He crumples up the letter in his right fist and proceeds to punch the unyielding trunk. He bruises his knuckles and shreds the skin that once protected them until his hand is a bloody pulp and stains the letter red, the colour of angry men.

His anger fades as quickly as it came. Jaime sinks down to the earth and leans his back against the tree trunk. "Two hundred and fifty," he repeats in a disbelieving, hollow voice. "Not all Texans, and not all soldiers. Some were Anglos and women and children. It wasn't a fair fight, Evans. How were they supposed to survive against a thirteen-day siege?"

"I thought Bowie and Black called for reinforcements?" The last you remember hearing about the Alamo was that the expedition decided to rebuild and occupy the fort rather than demolish it. Bowie's call for aid had occurred in the middle of February.

"They were outnumbered: fifteen hundred to a mere two-fifty. The Mexicans raided the fort and then cornered the Texan defenders. No one was spared."

"Not even Black?" Your voice is quiet; you're not sure that you want to hear Jaime's response confirming the inevitable.

His Adam's apple bobs. "Not even . . . ." he replies in a broken voice. He cannot finish his sentence and instead looks away. "There were a handful of survivors but they . . . they were civilians."

"He died for the revolution," you say softly but firmly. "He died for you, for me, for all of us. Sirius died a proud death, honouring what he believed in until the very end."

Jaime lets out a choked sob at the mention of his best mate's name. "I'm sick of this, Evans," he admits. "I'm so fucking sick of being beaten down and having history repeat itself endlessly. I'm sick of the heart-wrenching pain of seeing my mates alive one day and then lifeless the next. I'm sick of Gellerto's dictatorship and fighting for an independence that seems so intangible and - "

"Hey," you sharply cut into his rant. "Texas has already declared our independence - do you not remember signing the document a week ago? March 2nd is a day that will go down in the history books, Jaime. We've already _won_. They might be bigger, but we're faster and never scared. These walls that they put up to hold us back will fall down. This is a revolution - you have to want it, Jaime. You have to choose it or else you'll lose it. Do what you want but don't you _dare_ give up."

He sighs and stares at the bloody mess of his knuckles and the ruined letter still clutched within his fist. "Promise me that these things will change?"

"I swear I'll do anything to see a victory in our hands."

**iii. April 21, 1863: Halle-fucking-lujah.**

You've come a long way since last year. The revolution has taken a toll on your heart and spirit for the better and for the worse. The Texan armies were smaller and less-trained than their Mexican opponents, yet they fared less casualties. Still, each death was a mind-numbing blow to the Order. Every member had been a friend, a brother, and a comrade. General Longbeard seemed to age a few years each time there was news that a Texan had died.

The revolution officially came to an end on April 21st of 1863. Jaime was twenty-one the last time he died.

You weren't there, but the story echoes within your heart and breathes life into your revolution-satisfied veins. The story has been told so many times that the enemies' numbers keep getting bigger and bigger while the rebels become braver and more heroic with each re-telling. This time, though, you know every recount is truer than the last. Now, it's a matter of figuring out which version you want to engrave into your memory so you can pass it on to the next generation who will record it in their history books.

Remus is telling the story tonight. He has a poetic dreaminess that amplifies the tragedy and victory tenfold. He is precise and meticulous with his word choice and does not gloss over any details. Everyone's contribution to the revolution is important to him, and he makes sure to highlight everyone's best moments. His honesty is neither blunt nor tempered; instead, it is raw and beautiful and veritable.

This story, the one about the capture and imprisonment of dictator Gellerto, an eighteen minute battle at San Jacinto, and a victory that officially ended the revolution, is your favourite by far. It marks the end of the dark ages and a period of rebirth where light prevails. The ambush led by General Longbeard took the Mexicans completely by surprise and resulted in an astounding six hundred and thirty casualties on the Mexican side and only nine on the Texan side.

Jaime, your dear brave and wonderful soldier, was one of the nine fatalities. He had single-handedly recruited and rallied most of the Texan army following the fall of the Alamo and had been reckless in his attack as he sought vengeance against Gellerto for Sirius' death. But, Gellerto had been warned of Jaime's wrath and had personally shot him during the invasion. During Remus' re-telling, it comes to light that there had been a spy amongst the Texans, a spy who jeopardised missions and messages by delaying and altering the telegraphs. He was the very same double-agent who alerted Gellerto about Jaime. This spy went by the name of Pedro. General Longbeard then chimes in to announce that Pedro has been dealt with - you do not dare to decipher what that phrase truly means.

The battle was long and it was the fight of your life. But it all paid off in the end, for you stood up as a champion on that night and the rest of forever.

Victory is finally yours.

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End file.
